Whitinsville protest calls for fewer cases

With more than 20 cases, social worker Betti McCarthy struggles on a daily basis just to protect her clients.

By Lindsay Corcoran/Daily News staff

Milford Daily News

By Lindsay Corcoran/Daily News staff

Posted Jun. 26, 2013 at 12:01 AM
Updated Jun 26, 2013 at 4:43 AM

By Lindsay Corcoran/Daily News staff

Posted Jun. 26, 2013 at 12:01 AM
Updated Jun 26, 2013 at 4:43 AM

WHITINSVILLE

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With more than 20 cases, social worker Betti McCarthy struggles on a daily basis just to protect her clients.

“We have a strong, committed group of people here, but we need more people to get the job done and keep children safe,” McCarthy said. “We can’t go out and do the site visits we need to do with this many cases and that puts children at risk.”

McCarthy and about 30 others who work at the state Department of Children and Families (DCF) office in Whitinsville, where case loads are higher than at any other office in the state, were picketing on Wednesday to demand a lower caseload.

“We need to stop the bleeding,” said Peter MacKinnon, the Chapter President of the Local 509 SEIU union. “The DCF is making an effort, I will say that, but it needs to be quicker.”

The South Central office in Whitinsville covers one of the largest geographic areas in the state, extending from the edge of Interstate 495 out to Springfield, a total of 22 towns. The office currently assists 1,000 families.

MacKinnon said the extremely high caseload is causing problems with employee retention.

MacKinnon said DCF is nowhere near the amount of cases allowed in the social workers’ contract. The employees are supposed to have a maximum of 18 cases in their current contract and recently renegotiated for 15.

On average, an employee in the Whitinsville office has more than 20 cases. Last month, 29 of their employees had more than 20.